Security has long been a concern for persons wishing to prevent theft of their belongings. As early as 4,000 years ago, ancient Egyptians were known to use wooden pin-tumbler type locks to secure the doors to their residences. Even today, practically everyone who lives in a residential dwelling and/or operates a motor vehicle is concerned with the security of themselves and their property. The fear of having one's personal property stolen has been exacerbated in recent years, and this is due in part to the escalation of crime in many areas. Both automobile manufacturers and home security companies have attempted to combat increased theft by developing a variety of security systems.
Residential dwellers will often lock access doors to their homes while the home is unoccupied or during nighttime hours. In addition, it is typical that motorists will lock the doors of their vehicles when the vehicle is either unattended or in an unsecured place.
Sometimes the owner's best efforts to avoid theft of his/her property causes the owner to become inadvertently locked out of his/her own home or car. For example, a problem arises when the doors on either a home or a vehicle can be locked without using a key. Unfortunately, these types of locking doors can potentially lock a person out of his/her own home or vehicle if the person is not carrying the appropriate key. This may occur, for instance, when a motorist manually manipulates the locks on the car doors into a locked state and then inadvertently closes the locked doors while leaving the keys in the ignition or passenger compartment.
Locking oneself out of one's home or vehicle can be an extremely frustrating experience because it is inconvenient, time consuming and costly. One option of gaining entry into the property is to break a window to provide access. Another option would be to call a locksmith, provided a telephone is within a reasonable proximity, so that entry into the premises can be gained without incurring damage. Nonetheless, the cost during such circumstances are surprisingly high. Figures reported by the American Automobile Association indicate that during 1992 in excess of $400 million was spent to assist motorists who had locked themselves out of their vehicles.
To resolve this long standing problem of locking oneself out of one's vehicle, the most cautious motorist sometimes carries a spare door key in a wallet or a purse. Occasionally, the motorist will place the spare key in a metal or plastic container that has a magnet which can secure the container to a portion of the vehicle. However, while the vehicle is moving, jarring forces and vibration can cause this container to become dislodged and lost during transit. Another method of addressing the problem of locking oneself out of one's vehicle is by using a keyless entry whereby the motorist enters an appropriate code to electronically release the door locks. However, such a method can be quite costly and typically requires the manufacturer to install the key pad device at the factory while the vehicle is being assembled.
To avoid locking oneself out of one's home or other structure, a homeowner might hide a spare key somewhere around the exterior of the property. Sometimes, however, an absent minded homeowner forgets where the spare key is hidden. On the other hand, it is possible that a burglar would discover the whereabouts of the key and gain access into the locked premises. Hiding a key in a hollow plastic rock is a well-known technique. Unfortunately, due its wide spread usage, it does not always fool a burglar.
Therefore, a long felt need exists to provide a convenient, yet inexpensive way for one who has been inadvertently locked out of premises, such as a home or a vehicle, to gain access thereinto. A convenient approach to satisfying this need is to provide a spare key which is maintained in a secure, yet easily accessible location outside of one's property. It would be advantageous if such a key could be secured into a security box which is fixably mounted to a recess in the home or vehicle in order to prevent theft of the security box apparatus and the key. It would be further advantageous for such a security box apparatus to be relatively compact so that it can be hidden from view of the general public. The present invention is directed to meeting these needs, among others.